Automatic humidor



Nov. 18, 1941 R, A, YATES AUTOMATIC HUMIDOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3140mm Raymond/7; Ya/Ies,

Filed March 26, 1941 Patented Nov. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC. HUMIDOR Raymond A. Y tes, Rockville, Md. Application March 26, 1941, Serial No. 385,356

3 Claims. (01. 226l25) My invention relates tolhumidors and has as whereby'pipes andthe like may be readily filled with tobacco therefrom.

Another object of my invention is to provide a humidor'or device of'the above described character equipped with means for tamping the tobacco within the bowl of a pipe coincident with the filling of the bowl with the tobacco.

An important object of' my invention is to provide a'device of the character described which is simple'in construction, durable in use, efficient in operation and economical in manufacture.

With the above and other objects in View, as will hereinafter appear; the invention consists in the combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, from. which. the several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is aperspective view of my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3is adetail vertical sectional view il- Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 44 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a detail vertical sectional View of the upper end of the humidor and illustrating the sponge :container and latch member.

As illustrated in the drawings, I provide a substantially horizontally disposed base 5 having secured to one side thereof an upwardly ex-' tending support 6, the latter being attached to the base 5 by means of a plate-like member I. The upper face of the base is recessed to accommodate therein an ash tray 8.and is provided on opposite sides of said ash tray with projections constituting. match box retainers 9 over which are disposed the lower ends of open match boxes, one of which is illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 1.

Superjacent the base 5, the support 6 has fixed thereto a humidor l0 comprising upper and lower sections II and 12 respectively and with the lower section telescopically mounted within the upper section for vertical movement therein.

The lower end of the .lower section .is closed by a hinge l1.

a bottom wall l3 formed with a centrally'disposed aperture in which is disposed-thelower restricted end section I4 of a funnel [5, the latter constituting a dischargehopper. and having its upper end provided with a flange fixedto the side walls of the lower section l2 for vertical movement with said section. The upperend of the upper section. is fixed to the support 6 and isnormally. closed bya vlid l6,.the latter being pivotally connected to the support by means of.

The underface of the lidi6, adjacent thefront wall|8 of the section .II, has attached thereto a perforatedicasing. l9.in which is contained av spongezo, or the like, adapted. to be saturated with ,a suitable liquid .for moistening tobacco contained within the humidor, it being understood that tobaccois introduced into the humidor by raisingthe lid IS, a suitable finger-piece 2! being attached to said-lid to facilitate the raising thereof. The front wall 22 of the casing, I9 is hinged to the bottom by. means. of av hinge 23 whereby access may be had to the casing. for. replacing the sponge. a

The underface of the lid l6, overlyingthefifront wall 18. of the, section :H, has secured thereto the right angularly. disposed upper end 24 of a resilient latch-member 25, the latter having itsv body portion. normally disposed in appressed relationwiththe-front face ofthe wall I8 and formed, adjacent its lower end,.with akey-hole slot26-through .which extends a headed pin v21 carried by the wall I8. The lower end of the member 25-is formedwith an arciform fingerpiece spaced from the wall I8 to facilitate release-of-the member 25from the pin 21 when sufficient pressure is appliedto the lid to -position the head of the pin 21 within-the confines seated theouter end'of'a flange 29, the inner end of said flange 29'beingv structurally integrally formed with the upper end of the front wall 2-2 of the casing l9 as clearly illustrated in Figure 5.

That portionof the upper face of the wall l8 over which the flange 29 is disposed, is recessed to permit downward movement of the lid when pressure is applied thereto to effect disengagement of the member 25 from the pin 21 as heretofore described.

The underface of the bottom wall I3 is provided with a pair of spaced laterally disposed guides 30 in which is slidably mounted the marginal sides of a closure plate 3| normally closing the lower end of the section M of the hopper |5 as clearly illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings. The front face or edge of the closure plate 3| is formed with an arciform recess 32 and with a depending flange 33 marginating said recess. The flange 33 is adapted to engage the front portion of the bowl of a pipe P to position said bowl subjacent and in registry with the recess 32- for a purpose hereinafter set forth.

The rear face of the plate 3| has connected thereto one side of a substantially U-shaped leaf spring 35, the opposite side of said spring being connected to the rear wall of the lower section H! for movement therewith. The spring 35 serves to normally maintain the plate in underlying engagement with the lower end of the section M, which extends a slight distance subjacent the underface of the wall l3, thus closing the lower end of the hopper to preclude discharge of tobacco therefrom. The lower end of Y the support 6 has connected thereto the lower end of a coil spring 36, the upper end of said spring being connected to the rear face of the bottom wall l3 of the section l2 and serving to normally maintain said sections in extended relation. The support 6, has fixed thereto a stop 31 for engaging the underface of the wall l3 to limit the downward movement of the section l2 by the action of the spring 33.

The upper end of the section is provided with a transverse bar 38 to which is secured the upper end of a substantially cylindriform tamper 39, the lower end of which extends into the hopper IS. The outer faces of each side of the upper section II is provided with a pair of spaced upper and lower shelves 4!! and 4| respectively constituting a pipe rack. The lower shelves 4| are formed with recesses 42 for receiving the bowls of pipes while the upper shelves 40 are formed with apertures 43 through which the stems of the pipes extend as clearly illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings.

In use, it being understood that the sections and I2 have tobacco contained therein and that the parts are in the positions illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings, the bowl of the pipe P is disposed against the flange 33 and moved in a direction towards the spring 35 to actuate the plate towards the support 6 and thus effect registry of the recess 32 with the open end of the section M of the hopper. When the parts are thus positioned the bowl of the pipe will be disposed under the section l4 and an amount of tobacco will be discharged therein whereupon the pipe is raised upwardly to effect similar movement of the section 2 with respect to the section II and thus agitate tobacco within the sections and cause a further discharge of the same into the bowl of the pipe. As the pipe is moved upwardly with the section l2, the tamper39 operates as a follower to force tobacco out of the lower end of the hopper and to tamp said tobacco within the bowl of the pipe. When the bowl of the pipe is thus filled, the pipe is lowered and removed from below the section l2 thereby releasing the section l2 and plate 3| for simultaneous movement by the springs 31 and 35 respectively. The springs serve to actuate the lower section downwardly against the stop 31 and the plate 3| forwardly to close the bottom of the section M of the hopper respectively. Any tobacco discharged from the hopper in advance of the closing thereof by the plate 3|, while the pipe is being removed from engagement with the flange 33, will be accumulated within the tray 8 from whence it may be deposited within the humidor for use if desired.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that my humidor not only serves to maintain tobacco contained therein in a moist and desired smokable condition, but lends itself to the ready filling and tamping of tobacco within the bowl of the pipe. Furthermore, my humidor serves as a means for conveniently storing and supporting pipes when not in use.

Without further elaboration the foregoing will so fully explain the invention that others may, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service. Moreover, it is not indispensable that all the features of the invention be used conjointly since they may be employed advantageously in various combinations and sub-combinations.

It is obvious that the invention is not confined to the herein described use therefor as it may be utilized for any purpose to which it is adaptable. It is therefore to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific construction as illustrated and described as the same is only illustrative of the principles of operation, which are capable of extended application in various forms, and that the invention'comprehends all construction within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a device 'or the character described, a base, a humidor disposed above said base and provided with a pair of relatively movable upper and lower sections, said upper section fixed to said base and said lower section having a discharge opening, a closure plate slidably carried by said lower section and normally closing said opening, said plate provided with a pipe bowl engaging member for operating said plate to open position withrespect to said opening when pressure is applied to said member by a pipe to position its bowl in registry with said opening and to move said lower section towards said upper section, a tamper fixed within said upper section and operable to force tobacco through said opening into the bowl and tamp" the same within said bowl upon said movement ofsaid lower section, and means for urging said lower section away from said upper section and said plate to closed position with respect to said opening upon removal of said pipe from said member.

2. In a device of the character described, a base, a humidor disposed above said base and provided with a pair of relatively movable upper and lower sections, said upper section fixed to said base and said lower section having a discharge opening formed in its bottom wall, guides carried by said bottom wall, a closure plate slidably mounted in said'guides and normally closing said opening, said plate formed with a recess for registry with said opening and provided with a pipe bowl engaging member margining said recess for operating saidplate to effect registry of said recess with said opening when pressure is applied to said member by a pipe bowl to position said bowl in registry with said recess and opening and for moving said lower section towards said upper section to agitate tobacco in said sections, a tamper fixed within said upper section and havingits lower end normally disposed above said opening and operable to force tobacco through said opening into the bowl and tamp the same within said-bowl upon said movement of said lower section, and spring means for urging said lower section away from said upper section and said plate to closed position with respect to said opening upon removal of said bowl from said member. I

3. In a device of the character described, a

container adapted to be disposed above a base and provided with a pair of relativel$ movable upper and lower sections, with said lower section having a discharge opening, closure means carried by said lower section and normally closing said opening and operable away from said opening when pressure is applied tosaid means by a receptacle in effectingregistry with said opening 10 opening.

RAYMOND A. YATES. 

